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Catherine de' Medici Timeline (Historical)
A Timeline of events in the life of Catherine de Medici Italy * April 13, 1519 Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo de Medici is born in the Republic of Florence, Italy to Lorenzo de Medici Duke of Urbino & Madeline de La Tour de Auvergne. * April 28, 1519 Less than 2 weeks after giving birth Madeline dies from puerperal fever at the age of only 21. * May 4, 1519 Less than a month after the death of his wife, Lorenzo is dead from syphilis at the age of 26. This leaves Catherine as an orphan when she is less than a month old, and in the care of her paternal grandmother & aunts. * 1527 The Medici family is overthrown when siege is laid in Florence in an opposition to Pope Clement VI. 8 year old Catherine is taken hostage during this event and held captive in a series of convents. * October 1529 Troops of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V lay siege to Florence, and voices call for Catherine to be chained to a wall naked, put in a basket hung on a wall so she can be fired upon, and even handed over to the soldiers for their sexual pleasure. * August 12, 1530 Florence surrenders and 11 year old Catherine is rescued from captivity by Pope Clement. Scotland * April-November 1530 King James V of Scotland sends the Duke of Albany to Rome to conclude a possible marriage contract between him and Catherine. France * Early 1533 King Francis I of France proposes a match between his son Prince Henry Duke of Orleans and the "Little Duchess" Catherine. Pope Clement jumps at this offer. * October 28, 1533 The wedding of 14 year old Prince Henry Duke of Orleans & Catherine de Medici Duchess of Urbino also age 14 is celebrated in the Église Saint-Ferréol les Augustins in Marseille. The wedding is a grand affair with lots of gift giving, dancing & jousting to celebrate. * 1536 17 year old Princess Catherine Duchess of Orleans suddenly becomes the Dauphine of France when her brother in law dies from a fever at the age of 18. By now pressure is building on the young Princess as to when she and Henry will finally have a child. * 1537 Catherine is humiliated in court when Philippa Duci who is one of her husband's mistresses gives birth to a daughter whom Henry publicly claims. This leads to talk of Henry divorcing Catherine due to her difficulty conceiving. * 1538 Catherine watches painfully as her husband takes as his main mistress her 38 year old cousin Diane de Poitiers; who becomes like an intrusive older cousin to Catherine. * January 19, 1544 11 years after her wedding, and after literally trying every trick in the book for getting pregnant 24 year old Catherine finally fives birth to her first child a son: the Dauphin Francis. Unfortunately this happy event does little to improve her unhappy marriage and win her affection from her husband. * April 2, 1545 After consulting the court physician who said that the couple was having sexual difficulties, Catherine gives birth to her first daughter Princess Elisabeth of Valois. * March 31, 1547 King Francis I dies leaving the 28 year old couple as the new King & Queen Consort of France. * July 28, 1547 Henry is crowned King in the Reims Cathedral. Catherine is pregnant again at this time. * November 21, 1547 Catherine gives birth to another daughter Princess Claude of Valois. * February 3, 1549 Prince Louis Duke of Orleans is born. * June 10, 1549 Catherine is officially crowned Queen Consort of France in the Basilica of St. Denis. She is 30. * June 27, 1550 Prince Charles Maximilian is born * October 24, 1550 Prince Louis dies from illness when he is 11 months old * September 19, 1551 Prince Edward Alexander is born * May 14, 1553 Princess Margaret of Valois is born * March 18, 1555 Prince Francis Duke of Anjou is born * June 24, 1556 the 37 year old Queen gives birth to a set of twin girls; Joan & Victoria of Valois. While she is in labor however she nearly dies when Joan becomes stuck in the birth canal and the doctors must break one of her legs to get her out or else Catherine would have bled to death. Victoria is born next and survives. * August 17, 1556 Princess Victoria of Valois dies when she is only 7 weeks old. The Queen had no more children. * April 24, 1558 The wedding of Dauphin Francis & Mary Queen of Scots is celebrated at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. No children are born from this union. * January 19, 1559 the wedding of 11 year old Princess Claude of Valois & Charles Duke of Lorraine is celebrated. 9 children are born from this union. * April 3-4, 1559 The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis is signed and sealed with the marriage of Princess Elisabeth of Valois to King Phillip II of Spain which is celebrated by proxy on June 22, 1559. The couple have 2 daughters who survive infancy. * June 10, 1559 Catherine becomes a widow at 40 when her husband the King dies from septicemia after he is fatally injured in a jousting accident by Gabriel Montgomery. This leaves her eldest son the Dauphin Francis king at the age of 15, with his recent bride Mary Queen of Scotland as Queen Consort of France. * September 21, 1559 Francis is crowned King of France in the Reims Cathedral by his uncle Charles Cardinal of Lorraine * December 5, 1560 After only 17 months on the throne Francis is dead at the age of only 16 after suffering complications from an ear infection. * May 15, 1561 Catherine’s 10 year old son Charles is crowned as King Charles IX of France in the Reims Cathedral. * November 26, 1570 Charles marries Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria and has 1 daughter: Marie Elisabeth of Valois & an illegitimate son Charles de Valois Duke de Angouleme by a mistress Marie Touchet. * August 18, 1572 The wedding of Margaret of Valois & Henry III of Navarre is celebrated. No children result from this marriage. Category:History Category:Timeline Category:Miscellaneous Paris * August 23-24, 1572 The infamous St. Bartholomew’s day Massacre takes place which was target assassinations & mob violence by the Catholics against the Huguenots during the religious wars of France. This massacre resulted from the Peace of Saint Germaine which ended the third religious war in France, those who were unhappy with the marriage of Margaret to Henry III, and the failed assassination of Admiral de Coligny on August 22, 1572. This event was ordered by King Charles IX and put a dark spot on Catherine’s reputation in France. France * May 30, 1574 Catherine loses another child after Charles dies at the age of only 23 from tuberculosis. * February 13, 1575 22 year old Edward Alexander is crowned King Henry III of France following the death of his brother. He was initially King of Poland but abandoned this when he heard of Charles’ death. * February 14, 1575 The new King Henry marries Princess Louise of Lorraine, and no children result from this marriage. * February 21, 1575 Claude Duchess Consort of Lorraine dies following complications from childbirth at the age of 27. * May 6, 1576 Catherine gives in to the Huguenot demands in the Edict of Beaulieu which her youngest son Francis Duke of Anjou forced on the French crown after he allied with Protestant princes against his brother’s crown. * 1582-1585 Catherine cuts her daughter Margaret off, after she has: cheated on her husband, become broke, consistently run away, and begged for money. Margaret is banished from French Court by her brother after becoming an embarrassment and bringing scandal to her family, and she is cut from her mother's will and never sees her again. * June 10, 1584 Francis dies from Tuberculosis at the age of only 29 after a failed intervention in the Low Countries during which his army had been massacred. * 1578-1579 Catherine takes on the role of roving diplomat on behalf of her son Henry and embarked on an eighteen-month journey around the south of France to meet Huguenot leaders face to face to avoid war and enforce her son’s authority. Upon her return to Paris she is greeted with new found respect by the French who regard her as an “indefatigable princess, born to tame and govern a people as unruly as the French: they now recognize her merits, her concern for unity and are sorry not to have appreciated her sooner." * January 5, 1589 Catherine de Medici Queen Consort of France dies at the age of 69 from pleurisy. Those close to her believed that her life had been shortened by the fact that her son Henry ordered the murder of the Duke of Guise. Catherine was laid to rest beside her husband Henry II in the Basilica of St. Denis in France. * August 2, 1589 Just 8 months after his mother is buried Henry is murdered at the age of 37 by a friar named Jacques Clement. Category:History Category:Timeline Category:Miscellaneous